July 2012 Updates Page 12

19 July

North Central Kansas
Since the July 6th Update we returned to NC Kansas to scout a couple of potential new leases and renew a few existing ones. On this trip the temperature was 10 degrees cooler and a good rain followed the truck.

There were pockets of land with crops beyond repair, but there were also areas that had adequate rainfall like the photo above of one of our leases in Republic County. On a year like this it pays off to have leases spread across 50 plus counties.

The CRP grass was similar to the crop land. Some of the grass was thin while others looked good like the photos above taken in Republic and Cloud County.

In past years CRP grass was considered almost exclusively upland bird habitat, but as time progressed many slowly realized CRP grass is excellent habitat for deer, especially in open regions of Kansas. The photo above was taken of a potential new lease in Washington County, Kansas. The grass is thick and crops border the field from 3 sides.

While driving the roads we saw several quail, a couple of pheasant and once again more turkey. We were all on the move so good photos were tough to catch. The quail above was one out of at least a dozen young birds running the road in front of the truck. The pheasant was alone and there were a hand full of turkey. Not bad considering how the summer heat usually shuts all game down during the peak of the day.

What is unique about this photo is the farm was the 1st lease that Jon Sr. acquired on his own working as an employee for MAHA in 1981. The lease has been in the club for 31 years and we still have an outstanding relationship with the landowner and their family. At that time it was primarily a quail and pheasant lease. It still has a covey or two of quail but has evolved into a deer and turkey primary hunting lease.